Paying homage to heritage sites

Whenever you visit another country, stopping by the places included in the UNESCO World Heritage List gives you a glimpse into the cultural and natural legacy of that part of the world. That and a chance to flood everyone’s Instagram feed with some #incrediblybeautiful, #dontyouwishyouwerehere photos. In the Philippines, this means mostly going underwater, climbing a mountain and a few other things in between.

By Maui V Reyes for Yahoo! Southeast Asia

Gallery View:Paying homage to heritage sites

Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras

More than 2,000 years ago, the Ifugao tribe of the Philippines carved off parts of the Cordillera mountain range to plant rice. If those centuries-old rice terraces aren’t impressive enough, think about this: if laid side-by-side, the terraces span about 22,400 kilometers, which is believed to encircle half the globe! There are five rice terraces in the Cordilleras included in the cultural landscape category of the... more

Rice Terraces of the Cordilleras

More than 2,000 years ago, the Ifugao tribe of the Philippines carved off parts of the Cordillera mountain range to plant rice. If those centuries-old rice terraces aren’t impressive enough, think about this: if laid side-by-side, the terraces span about 22,400 kilometers, which is believed to encircle half the globe! There are five rice terraces in the Cordilleras included in the cultural landscape category of the World Heritage List: Batad, Bangaan, Mayoyao, Hungduan and Nagacadan. The view to stop you most in your tracks is the one of Batad, with its ampitheatre-shaped terraces. To get there, you need to take a butt-numbing 9-hour bus ride from Manila to Banaue (that’s the most direct way), and let the sleepy mountain towns and endless mountain views welcome you to the terraces. less